


Wayward

by Shyspyder



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Developing Relationship, Dreamwalking, F/F, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s15e12 Galaxy Brain, Reunion Fic, Wayward Sisters, Werewolves, midwest gothic, road trip vibes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shyspyder/pseuds/Shyspyder
Summary: After an emotional reunion, Kaia and Claire take a case battling werewolves in Iowa. - ON HIATUS UNTIL APRIL 2021
Relationships: Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Kudos: 10





	1. Few Hours Outside of Sioux Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I began writing this initially as sort of an extension of a Dreamhunter reunion fic I wrote last month, but I ended up creating this whole Wayward Sisters case fic that focuses on Kaia and Claire and their developing relationship. I have the first two chapters written out and a pretty decent outline for the next few after that, so I'm very optimistic! That said, I am starting a new job next week so I can't guarantee the quickest of updates. 
> 
> Anyway, as always thanks for reading :D

She was huddled beneath a blanket, her eyes half closed as she watched the billboards pass by. 

Jody was driving. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. She could feel her glancing over at her every once in a while. Reassurance that she was still there, maybe.

“You don’t want to stop for the night?” She asked, voice soft. 

Kaia shook her head. “No thank you. I just want to go home.” It hadn’t registered until then that Sioux Falls  _ was  _ her home. 

It didn’t feel like it yet, though. She’d only been there a few times, but she could see it for herself. She could see it becoming a place where she could find something resembling a future. Even if it wasn’t so clear now. It was there, just blurry.

“It’ll be a few hours,” she warned. “I can make the drive, I just need to know how you feel.”

Kaia lifted her head from the window, glancing at Jody. There was pity in her eyes. Perhaps she would have hated to see it before she went to the Bad Place. Maybe she still did, she didn’t know.

It wasn’t until she moved her head that she realized how  _ exhausted _ she felt. Not her mind, maybe, but in her body. Her legs were sore from sitting in the car for so long. Her head ached from resting against the cold winter window. Her eyes strained from staring at the road for so long. 

“We’re twenty minutes out from Omaha. Is that ok?” Her voice was still in that same soft tone. Kaia closed her eyes and nodded.

She tried not to close her eyes too much, but she was fine. Really, she was fine. Images of dark forests just lingered in her mind. Staring at the dark, empty cornfields and occasional sprinkling of maple forests did little to remind her of anything else. 

She was afraid to sleep. It had always been hard to sleep. Entering and exiting worlds, usually against her will. They had tried to tell her it was something else for the longest time. They, being... _ everyone _ . Social workers. Doctors. Teachers, even. It wasn’t until she met Jack and the Winchesters and  _ Claire  _ that she realized it was something else entirely. Not that it frightened her any less.

But it helped. Now that Dark Kaia was gone, it was easier for her to sleep. She felt safer like that. Sleeping. Like for the first time in her life, she could finally rest. Even if only for a few hours, before the worlds began to spin out of control, and she had to force herself back into consciousness. 

They pulled into the motel room, Jody still casting her concerned looks. Kaia didn’t mind. She imagined she looked terrible. Two years living in a forest would do that to you, no matter what condition you came out like.

“Two beds please,” she said to the front desk worker. She was an elderly woman, who nodded solemnly and handed her the keys. 

Later on, Kaia didn’t remember climbing into her bed. She didn’t remember closing her eyes and falling to sleep, the scratchy bedsheets pulled to her cheek.

There was a harsh wind beating against her face--she remembered that part. She hadn’t had much time or energy in the Bad Place to be focusing on understanding her powers. It certainly wasn’t a priority for her by any means. But she was more...aware? For example, she was beginning to differentiate between reality and dreams in a way that she never could have imagined. 

She knew now that she was in a dream. Someone else’s dream, more specifically. Each time she did it, the minds felt a little bit different. 

Only...whose dream was this? The most likely answer was Jody, who was only feet away from her physical self. But that answer didn’t feel right.

The room was dark. She walked through the hallways, squinting at the light. She came across a room, looking into it. She recognized it straight away. It was a room in Jody’s house back in Sioux Falls. Perhaps she was right before, and she was in her dreams. She shook her head. No, that didn’t sound right.

Claire burst into the room. 

Kaia backed up against the wall, eyes widening. 

She met her gaze almost immediately. Something flickered in Claire’s eyes. Recognition? She wasn’t sure. She was still trying to sort out her thoughts from the truth these days, but it was a dream nonetheless. But what Kaia did know with almost certainty was that this was not Jody’s dream.

This was Claire’s dream.

She somehow managed to walk into hers. It made sense--Claire was the last person she had been thinking about. One of the first people she asked about when she was rescued from the Bad Place. It only made sense that she would find her way into her dreams.

She winced at the realization. She didn’t want to be that person. She didn’t want to be the kind of person who waltzed into other peoples’ dreams without their consent--now that she knew what she was and what she was capable of. It didn’t seem right, and it certainly wasn’t fair. 

“Kaia,” she breathed. Kaia frowned. It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t asking if she was ok or trying to get her attention or wondering how this could be, how she could be here after so many  _ years _ . It was an acknowledgement, and Kaia realized.  _ She had seen her before _ . Like this, at least. In her dreams.

But there was something else too. Claire looked deeply distressed, her eyes wide and mouth open slightly. Not surprised, but distressed. How many other times had Claire dreamed about her like this? How many nightmares did she have in the past, remembering where she had happened to her?

“Claire,” she whispered back. She took a step forward hesitantly, not wanting to make any sudden movements. 

Claire took a step back, her breath quickening. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?” she breathed, voice breaking slightly at the end. It was so un-Claire-like, that Kaia had to hesitate.

“I’m sorry,” Kaia said. “I’m sorry, Claire. But--I’m ok. I’m alive.”

Claire was already shaking her head before she could even finish speaking. “No. No you’re not. You’re gone, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault. It was never your fault.” Kaia could feel her stomach sinking. She was so close. She shouldn’t have agreed to stop for the night. They could have made it back to Sioux Falls by morning easy. It would have been nothing.

But Claire’s mind was already retreating. The edges of the world was already breaking away, and Kaia could feel herself being dragged back into her body. She forgot sometimes, how differently time moved when she was walking through different dreams like this. It felt like she had only been in Jody’s house for a few minutes, but she could already feel the light from the motel room peeling her reality back. 

“Claire,” she said, trying to ground herself back. 

“I have a hunt to do,” she hissed. “Werewolf. Cedar Rapids. I can’t be doing this--thinking about anything else. That’s what everyone’s been telling me.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What have they been telling you?”

Claire’s eyes flashed. “Nothing, I mean--never mind. They haven’t been telling me anything, but I can feel them thinking it. Alex. Patience. Jody and Donna. They want me to get over you, but I can’t." her expression broke. "How can I?” 

Kaia opened her mouth to speak, but the words couldn’t come out. They were broken in her throat as the world swirled into the motel ceiling. Even if they hadn’t, she didn’t know how to convince her. How to tell her that she didn’t need to worry about what she was being “told.” That she was here and she was alive. 

She woke with a gasp, pulling herself up from the lumpy mattress. The distant light of a neighboring room flickered in the corner of her eye. She looked away from it, letting the dark room ground her back into reality. 

“Kaia?” Jody was at her side in an instant, eyes full of concern and hands on her shoulders. She blinked at met her eyes. 

“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head. “I know what I’m doing now. I’m fine.” The first part was only half the truth, but there was still at least some bit of truth there. She knew what was real and what was false, and compared to what she had been going through before, that was more than good enough.

Jody seemed to relax when she spoke, letting the words wash over her as she sat down beside her on the bed. “You were in Claire’s dreams, weren’t you,” she said softly. It wasn’t a question.

Kaia glanced at her. “She’s hurting,” she said. “I could feel it in her dreams. She...misses me.”

Jody didn’t look surprised. “More than anything,” she whispered. “You know she did everything she could to bring you back, right? What happened in the Dark Place…” she shivered. “I don’t think she ever recovered.”

“I can’t wait to see her,” Kaia said. She dreamed about her often when she was in the Bad Place. Really, truly dreamed. Not walked. She dreamed about her eyes. The way she made her feel safe in the most terrifying moment of her life. The way she kept that sense of safety wrapped around her when the world was closing in around her, when she had no idea what the future would bring. Even when Dark Kaia came back for her, she still kept those memories in her mind.

“I haven’t told her you’re alive yet,” Jody said.

Kaia looked at her in surprise. “What?”

She looked pained as she shook her head. “She was hurt really bad when we lost you, Kaia. I mean really hurt. I didn’t think she would ever come back from it. She still hasn’t, really. But…” she trailed off for a minute, lost in thought. She seemed to be trying to figure out how to word this next part. Kaia watched her patiently, curious what she had meant by that. “I don’t mean it to sound any kind of way, Kaia, but I don’t think I will be able to accept it myself until the two of you are reunited in person.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say to that. She hadn’t realized that Claire had felt so strongly. Her instinct was to feel a thrill deep in her stomach. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself to get close to anyone. Perhaps she never really ever had. But knowing that someone felt so strongly about her safety made her mouth feel dry. 

But there was uncertainty there, too. Claire had strong feelings about her, Kaia could see that there was no doubt about that. But did she feel the same type of feeling? The same longing that Kaia had felt in the pit of her stomach? The look in Jody’s eyes suggested one thing, but the dread in her stomach suggested something else. 

“Um...what time is it?”

Jody looked surprised by the question, drawn out of the deep conversation and connection. She glanced at her phone, the light illuminating both of their faces.

“Six,” she said. “Do you want to get going? It’s all up to you.”

Kaia was already nodding. “Yeah,” she said. “I just...I just want to go home.”

There was a slight rain pouring down as they drove out of the motel parking lot, the windshield wipers moving rhythmically with the wheels of the car. Kaia was huddled beneath three different blankets that Jody had found in the back of her truck, used for victims or survivors she had come across during various cases.

They were only a few hours out from Sioux Falls now, the highway exits coming and going as the sun rose higher in the sky. She dozed in and out of sleep, flickering in between the soft dreams of other highway passengers in the same place. Claire was wide awake, there was no risk in accidentally slipping into her head again. The relief in knowing that was enough for her to comfortably get some extra rest. There hadn’t been much opportunity to have that, when she lived in the Bad Place. There hadn’t been much opportunity for much else other than the absolute bare minimum.

Perhaps against her own free will, she felt her thoughts reaching for Claire anyway. In her dreams, she could sense urgency in her mind. Jody’s house was very much the same as she remembered, but she thought it felt...different somehow. Not quite right. Whatever hunt she had been on had been important to her. 

She remembered her words with a jolt. The werewolves in Iowa.

“Claire is working a case,” she said, frowning at the road.

Jody looked at her in surprise. They had been quiet before, neither one wanting to break the silence. “You talked to her?”

She cringed, but Jody didn't sound angry or even surprised. “A little bit. She said she was working a case in Cedar Rapids.”

“That’s not too far. She’ll be back by this afternoon.” She watched as a smile flickered across her face. “She’ll be so happy.”

She wanted to tell her that they should say something--Claire had seemed so urgent about the case, and she suspected that she was willing to leave it abandoned when Jody called her from Sioux Falls. 

And what if something happened then? What if someone got hurt...because of her?

“We should tell someone,” she said. “She shouldn’t leave it alone.”

“I’ll call someone when we get back,” she said gently. “We’ll take care of it, Kaia. Just worry about yourself for right now.”

She let herself relax once more, glancing out the window.

She slipped back into a more restful sleep, feeling the world disappear around her once more. The dreams around her were calm ones. She didn’t feel her heart race in the dread of nightmares, or the longing of grief. They were calm, dreary Sunday morning dreams. They were the sort of dreams she could rest in between, rather than treat in panic.

“Kaia,” Jody whispered. She felt herself being pulled awake. The lights from the highways were gone, replaced by streetlights from a quiet neighborhood. “We’re in Sioux Falls. We’re home. Would you like to come inside?”


	2. Middle of Rural Iowa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! This is a (very) short chapter, but I wanted to introduced Claire's POV a little bit before the great big reunion scene (tm). Thanks for reading!

Claire woke with a start. She groaned slightly, moving from the bed so she was sitting up on the lumpy mattress. Even as she stared at the shitty wallpaper in that shitty roadside motel room in the middle of rural Iowa, she still felt like she might as well had not slept at all.

Everything hurt. Her muscles. Her bones. Her head, most of all. But none of that mattered, because she still couldn’t  _ forget _ .

Of course, it was ridiculous to think that she would ever “forget.” 

But was it too much? Was it too much to ask for, to have one night free of Kaia-involved nightmares?

God. She felt awful just for thinking like that.

She rolled over and peered out the window, bringing one hand up to run at her sleep-crusted eyes. There was no point going to sleep now. The early morning light was already beginning to pour through the windows, blocking her view of the few cars scattered across the parking lot.

She still had a long way to go with this werewolf case. She had received the call first from Donna, who had heard it from a former co-worker of hers back in Minnesota. Donna’s voice had been hushed and hurried when she gave her the details of the case. Even though Jody had given Donna her blessing to pass cases along to Claire, there was still an uneasiness about it. She knew that even though she had said otherwise, Jody didn’t completely approve of what Claire was doing. And she most likely never would.

Claire closed her eyes and shook her head. It didn’t matter what she thought. Hunting was the only thing she could do to keep her mind off of...well, off of everything. Off of knowing that Kaia was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. Off of the constant thrumming inside her head that managed to keep her going: the need to help people. 

All she could do was help people. All she could do was convince herself that the work she did made a difference, and wasn’t driven by the need for something much darker.

She sighed and pulled her leather jacket over her shoulders. There would be time to think about those things later. Her mind wouldn’t give her any choice anyway. Nor her dreams.  _ Especially not her dreams. _

She stuffed her gun behind her back, alongside the silver knife. It had been a useful gift from a hunter she helped out in Idaho. She was too numb to be excited about it though. The ever fading image of Kaia’s surprised face still echoing in her mind. 

_ Ring! Ring!  _

The sound of her phone ringing jerked her from her thoughts in an instant, her eyes blinking in surprise.

It was Jody. Her name on the screen glaring bright in the dark motel room. Claire fumbled with the phone for a moment before holding it up to her ear. 

“Hello?” She answered. Her voice was rough in the silent room, echoing only slightly. “Jody?”

“Claire,” she said.

Every muscle in her body froze. There was something off when she spoke. She could sense it right away.

“I’m, uh, I’m in Iowa,” she said, voice rushed. She was already packing up her clothes. “What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

“Everything’s fine,” she said. Her voice cracked slightly, giving away her lie. “Claire I need you to come back to Sioux Falls,” she said. “It’s about Kaia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)


	3. A House in Sioux Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was too busy checking on the Daily American Coup Updates(tm) to finish this on time, so here we are.

Thinking back on it, Kaia hardly remembered what was going on at all when she stepped out of Jody’s car and onto the frozen pavement. She knew that she had to pause a moment before stepping onto the solid ground, her legs shaky from hours spent on the road. She knew that she was exhausted, even with her brief but numerous naps. 

Alex and Patience were both there. At Jody’s house. Donna was there too, the three of them sitting around the counter and looking up at her with wide eyes. Kaia recalled seeing the Minnesota plates as she was guided through the front door, but didn’t register that it was her until she saw them all for herself.

Patience stood up, but Donna reached up and touched her arm gently, her eyes not leaving Kaia’s. She swallowed and hesitated for a moment, before sitting down.

“Patience had a vision just before you called,” Donna spoke to Jody in a low voice, but Kaia heard it anyway. “She saw that Kaia…” she looked at Kaia and broke off, avoiding eye contact.

Kaia swallowed, but looked away from the rest of them, focusing stead on the cracks in the floor. No doubt Patience had gotten just a taste of what she had gone through in the Bad Place.

She cringed at the thought. She knew that Patience couldn’t control her visions any more than Kaia could control her dreams, but she couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably at the thought of it.

“Is she ok?” Alex asked, her voice sharp as she looked up at Jody.

Kaia glanced at Jody. She nodded, her mouth pressed in a thin line but her eyes soft. “She’ll be ok.”

Alex was still looking at her suspiciously, her arms crossed. There was an odd familiarity in her stance. Hesitation and urgency, perhaps. Patience, on the other hand, was watching her with wide eyes. Donna was seated in between both of them, her concerned gaze meeting Jody’s.

For the first time, Kaia felt a kind of dread settle in her stomach. Was this ok? Was it ok for her to be here right now? Jody has insisted that it was. She looked back at her. She wanted to ask about Claire, but she knew she had already asked multiple times. Each time, the answer was the same. She’s in Iowa. She’s on her way. That was all she could ask for, after all, but that didn’t calm the fear in her stomach any more.

“Come sit down, sweetie,” Donna said softly. There was a kindness in her eyes that made something in her twist painfully. She hadn’t spent much time with them, before the Bad Place, but she had been kind to her, even when she didn’t have to.

She shivered slightly and moved to sit down at the table. All three of them were watching her nervously.

“Don’t worry,” she said, her voice more wry than she had meant for it to be. “I know where I am right now.”

Alex cracked a smile, shaking her head slightly as she looked down at her hands. “Claire’s going to go ballistic when she finds out that you’re back.”

The nervous feeling that had bubbled up in Kaia’s stomach before only seemed to increase tenfold when she said that. Her mouth gaped open slightly as she searched her eyes desperately, trying to figure out what she had meant by that.

“What do you mean?” She whispered.

Alex raised her eyebrows when she looked up at her. “Are you  _ serious _ ?”

The nervousness that she felt in her stomach seemed to drop.

“Alex,” Jody said softly. “That’s enough.”

Alex immediately looked away. Patience sighed and stood up straighter, her turn to address Kaia. “I had a vision with you in it,” she said. “But I didn’t know if it was you, or…”

“Or her,” she finished. “She’s gone. It’s just me.”

“Oh.”

There was a long moment of silence, none of them willing to speak again.

“You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want--”

“It’s ok,” Kaia whispered “I...I’ll have to talk about it eventually won’t I?” The attempt at a joke was meant with concerned silence. Kaia didn’t mind talking about the Bad Place. Especially now that she was out of it. But her mind had been humming ever since the mention of Claire.  _ What did Alex mean?  _

There had been a kind of rare certainty when she had met Claire. Even though they had spent very little time together, there was an understanding that she had never experienced with anyone else. 

Maybe she was overanalzying things. She was definitely overanalyzing things. 

She looked back up at all three of them, meeting their eyes one by one. Perhaps for now she could use this as a distraction.

“I don’t remember too much,” she said. I remember it was...hard. Harder than living here.” She shuddered at the memories. Maybe this was a mistake. “But  _ Dark _ Kaia rescued me.” 

The silence continued. 

“Yeah,” Jody spoke, her voice uneasy. “But you’re here now, right? That’s all that matters.” She met Donna’s eye, a flash of worriness exchanging between the two of them. Perhaps Kaia would have missed it if she hadn’t been paying attention. Instead, it felt like she was intruding on something private. She looked back down at her hands awkwardly.

Donna coughed and shifted slightly. “You must be exhausted. Jody has a spare room, I can show you to it.”

Kaia hesitated. She wanted to wait for Claire. She wanted to  _ see her again _ . But they were all still sitting around the table, looking at her with such intense worry in their eyes. How could she say anything else?

She nodded, her voice impossibly quiet. “Ok.”

She let herself be led to the back, her eyes catching on the various items scattered around the house. She had been here once before, but it still struck her how  _ normal  _ this place was. At first glance, it was all anyone could ask for. White picket fence. Kitchen table. Two (now three?) teenage girls stopping by in between classes. Work. Dates. 

But when you looked closer, you could see that there was more. Bullet shells. Road maps. Bottles of blood. Knives. One too many battery pack chargers than was considered normal. It should have been concerning, but all Kaia could feel was  _ relief _ . Too different, and she would have felt the terror creep in. Too normal, and the terror would have been even worse. But this was nice. This was good. She could sleep here, tonight. 

“It’s just the guest room, but--”

“--it’s perfect,” she finished, smiling at her slightly.

Jody nodded and gazed at her for a moment. There was concern in her eyes, but Kaia tried her best to ignore it.

“You’re not going to sleep tonight at all, are you?”

Kaia shivered and wrapped her arms around her middle. “I don’t think so. Not until…not until I see Claire again,” she said.

Jody shifted uncomfortably. “She still doesn’t know. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t. Not until...”

“I understand,” she said. She wanted to be sure that Kaia wasn’t just here, but Kaia was  _ here _ . No more surprises. Nothing anyone would have to explain to her later.

There was another pause. “The sheets are new, if you change your mind. Otherwise there’s some books on the shelves.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. If you need anything else, just let us know.”

“Ok.”

“Kaia.” She looked up at her. Jody’s voice softened. “This isn’t a prison.”

“I know,” she said, her voice surprised.  _ This isn’t a prison _ . Those words would echo for a while. She hadn’t thought that it was, but it was still good to hear that. She was safe now. She would be alright.

And then she was alone. It was a small room, but the walls didn’t feel like they were closing in. She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed awkwardly. She had debated going back into the kitchen, but she was not hungry. The sandwich Jody bought for her at a cafe outside of Sioux City, Iowa sat like a brick in her stomach.

She glanced at the bookshelf and fingered briefly through the titles. Vampire lore. Poltregeist lore. Nora Roberts. She sighed and stepped back to the bed. It was no use. She wouldn’t be able to focus on anything. All she could do was pace restlessly. Briefly, she had considered going back into the living room, but she knew that the rest of them were talking about her. She cringed at the thought. 

Jody was right...right? She  _ was _ allowed to stay here...right? 

Claire would tell her. Claire would take care of her. That was the only thing she would allow herself to focus on.

And yet…

She didn’t have much time to think about any other alternative. The loud crunch of a door opening against the winter snow broke through her thoughts.

“Hello!” A voice called. “Jody? Donna?”

Kaia froze. 

_ Claire! _


	4. Blizzard on the Highway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A whole update??? Only three days later?? It's more likely than you think!!

Claire pulled into Jody’s driveway, her car’s engine roaring against the noise of the gathering snowstorm. Things had taken a turn for the worse just as she was pulling into Sioux Falls. The early winter blizzards had been absent from most weather reports, a fun surprise for her two wheel drive beater. But she gritted her teeth and pressed her foot on the gas, eyes narrowed on the road ahead.

Even though it had been only a few hours since she left her motel room in Iowa, her legs ached from forcing herself into an uncomfortable posture for the past few hours. She stopped only once. Pulling into a run-down gas station to fill up before plummeting down the highway once more, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

There had been something strange in Jody’s voice. She didn’t need to be a psychic to figure that out. But as soon as she mentioned Kaia…

Claire forgot about pretty much everything else. She...well, she didn’t care about anything else. The only mantra that ran through her brain was the one telling her that she needed to get back to Sioux Falls. And quickly.

Jody did not elaborate much after that. She just repeated her words, telling Claire that she needed to get to Sioux Falls straight away. A million different possibilies ran through Claire’s mind, each one as utterly tragic as the last. Each one as unbearable and awful and heartbreaking and  _ hopeful _ . 

She shook her head, fighting the urge to choke on her breath. She was almost there. She was almost there, and she would no longer have to wonder.

She pulled into the house, the tires slipping slightly along the icy roads. She cursed, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes in renewed concentration. Her hands were sweating--they had been sweating ever since she left Iowa--which forced her to keep them gripped tightly on the steering wheel. 

Once she was reasonably certain that the vehicle would not move from its diagonal parking spot, she opened the door and peeled herself out of the driver’s seat.

Not all the lights were on in the building. It was still early afternoon, but the snow had all but blacked out the sky completely, leaving the rest of the houses in the quiet neighborhood with glowing living room windows. Still, it was clear that there were others in the house, and the driveway lights signaled that they had been expecting her. She took a deep breath, and lifted her hand so that it was brushing against the hilt of her gun.

The idea that this was a trap had crossed her mind. More than once, actually. What had happened with Kaia had slipped through in conversation with the rest of the hunter community soon enough, and she could only assume that those numbers included one or two demons with a grudge against her. 

So yeah, she had considered the idea that this was a trap to get her and her found family killed. But she couldn’t not take the bait. She just couldn’t.

“Hello?” She called, stepping slowly into the house. The door was unlocked, and no one stopped her. “Jody? Donna?”

“Claire!” Donna appeared from behind the kitchen, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping open. “You’re here!”

“Jody called,” she said, frowning. “She said to come home right away. What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Hibbing.”

Donna didn’t seem to even hear her. She rushed forward, grasping her elbows and looking her in the eye. Right away Claire knew that something was wrong. She watched her closely, shifting slightly to pull away. 

“What is it?”

She sucked in a breath. “Claire...I need you to listen closely. We...we didn’t want to get your hopes up, that’s why we didn’t--”

Her mouth dried. “Donna, what are you talking about?”

Donna’s gaze faltered. Claire opened her mouth again to repeat herself, but something stopped her.

It was a quiet voice. So quiet, she might have missed it if all of her senses weren’t already on high alert. So quiet, that she would have brushed it off to something not worth her attention. Not yet, with Donna looking at her  _ so carefully _ . 

“Claire?” the voice whispered.

She whipped around almost immediately, her eyes wide as she watched the owner of that voice step out from behind the shadows.

She looked…

She looked exactly as she remembered her. Wide and  _ trusting _ eyes. Those had not changed. Claire hesitated for too long, her own eyes locked on hers, unable to process what she was seeing.

How many months had it been? Years, more like. Years of revenge and retalliation twisting in her mind. Years of waking up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. Years of being able to focus on little else. Years of Kaia’s face, covered by the shadows of trees in the Bad Place, now covered by the shadows of Jody’s kitchen wall.

“Claire is that you?”

She was shaken from her trance almost immediately, re-focusing her attention in Kaia’s eyes. They were full of concern and full of such  _ hope _ .

Claire wasted no time. She lifted her hand from the hilt of her gun and ripped the knife from the silver knife from her belt. She launched herself forward, reaching her arm forward so it was crossing Kaia’s chest and pressing her to the wall.

“Who are you,” she snarled. “What do you want?”

She could see-- _ feel _ \--Kaia swallow, her eyes wide as she stared back into her own.

“Claire,” she whispered, voice cracking. “Claire, it’s me.”

Still, she did not let up. She could not afford to let up. Instead, she pressed the knife against her throat harder, narrowing her eyes.

Nothing was happening. It may as well have been a regular knife.

Distantly in the background, behind the roar in her ears, she heard Donna shuffling around. Both Kaia and Claire jerked in surprise as cold water washed over both of them, dripping between the two of them.

And still…

Nothing.

The corner of Kaia’s lips tilted upward slightly. It was so subtle that it made her heart break.

“I told you,” she whispered. Her hand reached forward tentitively, brushing the tips of Claire’s hair. The movement was small and simple, but her breath caught in her throat. “It’s me.”

The roaring in Claire’s ears only seemed to grow louder when she spoke. She blinked once, and then a few times. She couldn’t look away. 

“Kaia,” she whispered. It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t really a statement either. She could only stare, mouth gaping open. 

Another heartbeat, another moment in which either were willing to move. Kaia was the one who closed the gap, her arms wrapping around Claire and burying her face into her hair.

“Oh my God,” Claire choked. There was so much more that she wanted to say, but she just  _ couldn’t _ . She squeezed her eyes shut and  _ breathed _ .

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” Kaia whispered. She almost laughed, because she almost said the exact same thing. She never thought she would see her again. The guilt was almost unbearable, knowing that she had been alive this whole time, but she pushed that aside and forced herself not to linger on that. Not yet, at least. There was too much else to think about. Too much else to celebrate.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. Her voice was muffled by Kaia’s hair, her face pressed into the space between her neck and her shoulder. “You’re alive.” 

“I’m alive,” Kaia said back, her voice a low mumble. “And so are you.”


	5. Closest Thing to a Miracle

Kaia couldn’t stop staring.

Claire looked...good. Well, she always looked good. But there was something different about her this time. The exhaustion beneath her eyelids had been impossible to miss, but the smile that curved along her lips was a genuine one. 

It was more than just that, though. The leather jacket hugged at her arms and stopped just at her waist. Her thick eyeliner was unmistakable, making her blue eyes stand out in the bright lights that hung above the kitchen table.

Her eyes were fixed on Alex’s, joking about something that Kaia had long since stopped paying attention to. She was too focused on the look of pure relief on Claire’s face. 

There was a moment of hesitation, a lapse in the conversation, before the eyes shifted towards her own.

She looked away before their eyes could meet, a blush rising to her cheeks. There was another beat of silence. Kaia felt a hand brush at her arm softly, eyes rising back up to meet her own.

“Are you ok?” Claire asked quietly. She examined her face. There was such genuine concern there. Kaia couldn’t remember the last time she had seen someone look  _ so genuine _ . Eyes wide and searching, mouth gaping open slightly as she stared back at her. She had been stuck in the Bad Place for over a year. Maybe longer...it certainly felt longer. She was certain that she wasn’t in a dream right then, but it took some time for her to ground herself completely in the moment. At the very least, she had to blink a few times. 

She grinned back at her, leaning forward just slightly. “I’m fine,” she whispered. 

Claire smiled back at her, a look of genuine relief falling across her face.

“Do you two need a minute, or…”

“Shut up,” Claire said, rolling her eyes. The smile did not leave her face.

Alex shrugged, and got up anyway. The rest of the girls had gone to sleep for the night. Between Patience having classes the next day, Donna returning to Hibbing, and Jody back to working days, they needed time to rest. 

Alex had a morning shift of her own to prepare for. She left the room quietly, glancing between the two of them with raised eyebrows. Kaia watched her leave, butterflies in her stomach once they were left alone.

When she looked back at Claire, there was a strange expression that had crossed her face. She sucked in a breath, preparing for the tough conversation. 

As the evening had crept on, she had a certain sense that Claire had something to say. There were probably lots of things she wanted to say, but it felt...different. Something was eating at her. She felt a twinge of sympathy. 

“Kaia...if I would have known…” The softness and sheer grief in her voice made Kaia’s heart break. She leaned forward immediately, and without question. Wrapping her arms around Claire’s shoulders and burying her nose into the place between her neck and her shoulder. She breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of old leather and cold night air.

“I’m alright,” she whispered. “I’m alright. You wouldn’t have had any way of knowing.”

“I know,” she said, voice choking. “I know that I wouldn’t have. But that doesn’t…”

“It’s ok,” she reassured her. It would be easier to reassure her of that than it would be to convince her that she wasn’t in any way at fault, even if that was the truth. “I’m here. I got out, and I’m ok. And so are you.”

There was a moment in which neither of them moved. Neither of them did anything, other than sit in silence and soak in the fact that they were both here, alive and together. Kaia closed her eyes again, pressing her face into her jacket. Images of dark trees flickering in the back of her eyelids. A few months ago, this would have been impossible. Hell,  _ last night  _ it would have been impossible. It was, perhaps, the closest thing she would ever see to a miracle.

“I just can’t believe it,” Claire said, voice tight. Kaia didn’t say anything. She just rested her head in the same place, unmoving as the now-silent house descending in on them.

It didn’t last long, though. They both jerked at the ringing sound coming from Claire’s pockets. They pulled away almost immedietly, Kaia watching as she rubbed furiously beneath her eyes.

“Hello?” She answered. Her face was screwed in concentration, eyes darting restlessly across the kitchen. Kaia frowned and tilted her head.

“Oh...uh, sorry to hear that. Are you sure?” her eyes lifted to meet Kaia’s. There was a curious expression on her face. She hummed a few times, looking torn between listening to the voice on the other side of the phone, and the struggle to regain her composure.

“Right,” she said. “Um...I’m a bit wrapped up with something now, but I’ll let you know. Thanks again, Maggie.” She hung up the phone, closing her eyes and sighing.

“Who was that?” Kaia asked curiously. She realized then that she didn’t really know much about Claire’s life. She knew that she was a hunter, of course. But aside from the obvious, she didn’t really know what that meant. She didn’t know how long she had been doing it for, the enemies she made along the way, or perhaps more importantly, who her friends were. But the longer she sat in the kitchen with her, the more she became willing to find out.

Claire shook her head, the lines beneath her eyes becoming more pronounced. Kaia leaned forward slightly, brushing the corner of her sleeve against her wrist. The slightness of the movement caused Claire’s eyes to shoot up, a softness taking over her face once more.

“I was in Des Moines when Jody called me,” she began. “A werewolf case. Some campers in a local park. I wasn’t that far into it when…”

“When Jody called you?”

She winced. “Yeah. Maggie was just outside of Chicago. She said she’d take a look.”

Kaia nodded. “Is she ok?”

“She’s fine. Her aunt had a heart attack. She couldn’t stick around. I have to…” she sucked in a breath. “Two people have already died. Someone has to take this case.” 

There was a beat of silence. The answer seemed simple enough to Kaia. “Can’t you take it?”

Claire’s eyes widened. “What?”

She shrugged. “You know the case better than anyone. And I’m alright. It wouldn’t be long, would it?”

Claire was sputtering. “But...you just got back! I’m not going to just leave you here.”

“What’s wrong with here?”

“Nothing! It’s the safest place in the world to be, but--”

“Then take me with you.” She was surprised at how easy it was for her to suggest such a thing. She had never been on a hunt before. She had no idea what to expect. But Claire was no older than herself, and she had to have started somewhere. How else was there to start, other than being thrown into the flames?

“But you…”

“Claire,” she interrupted. Then she remembered something else. “I just spent over a year in a post-apocalyptic version of earth that was literally called “the bad place”. I had Dark Kaia, but still. I think I can manage a werewolf hunt in Iowa.”

She didn’t know why she wanted to along with this so badly. Maybe she needed something to latch onto now that she was back. School didn’t seem like an option, and a job certainly was not. But this...maybe she could do this.

She met Claire’s eyes, watching how she seemed to search them with a certain sense of desperation. 

“You just got back,” she whispered. “Don’t you want to rest?”

Kaia shrugged. “I feel fine.”

She shook her head. “Are you sure you want to--”

“I’m a Dreamwalker,” she said. “If you’re afraid of me getting wrapped up in the life, I think my sentence was sealed the minute I was born.”

Claire pursed her lips. There was no way she could argue with that.

“Ok,” she said.

Kaia blinked in surprise. She wasn’t expecting it to be that easy. “Ok?”

It was Claire’s turn to shrug. “I doubt that anything I could say would change your mind. It’s your choice. You don’t need to ask permission or anything.” She mumbled the last part, eyes drifting away.

Something soared in Kaia’s stomach. They were simple words, but they meant everything. Claire turned to face her, eyes growing serious.

“That doesn’t mean I like it, though. Or that I even agree with it. You just got back, Kaia. Are you sure you don’t want to rest for a few days?”

“I’d rather spend them with you.” 

She meant every word of it. The smile was slow to return to Claire’s face, but it returned nonetheless. She shook her head. “Ok,” she said. There was resignation in her voice, but no argument. “Des Moines it is.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Yell with me on Tumblr: [shyspyderr](https://shyspyderr.tumblr.com/)


End file.
